An Indian River County couple has sued a Palm Beach County
temple and a rabbi for a botched religious circumcision that required
emergency-room stitches and has left their son scarred.

Lisa Alsofrom and Maxou Jacques Lapeyre want an unspecified
amount of money from Temple Emeth and Rabbi Abraham Cohen, who
performed the circumcision on the couple's son, Noah Benjamin Lapeyre,
in June 1996.

A suit filed a week ago charges both the Delray Beach temple
and Cohen, now a Connecticut resident, were negligent in performing
what is known as a brith milah circumcision when Noah was 8 days old.

"He's scarred for life physically and emotionally," said David
Carter, the couple's Vero Beach attorney. '`Everyone's going to think
of him as the kid who was butchered by the mohel," one approved to
perform circumcisions in the Jewish faith.

Alsofrom's mother, a Palm Beach County resident, contacted the
temple in late May 1996 and inquired about hiring a mohel to perform
the religious ritual. The couple's first son was circumcised in the
hospital, Carter said.

A receptionist at the temple gave Cohen's name to Alsofrom's
mother. The receptionist told her Cohen was affiliated with the temple,
the suit alleges.

Cohen, an ordained rabbi, had been hired by the temple as a
religious reader and was performing the circumcisions on his own
according to attorney Buck Vocelle, who represents the temple. "He did
this on his own," Vocelle said Wednesday.

Cohen's wife, reached at the couple's West Hartford residence,
said her husband could not be reached for comment.

Carter said his clients were given one of Cohen's business
cards, which listed the temple, Cohen's name and a notation about
circumcisions. "The business card clearly gives the message he was
(working) for the temple," he added.

Cohen met with the couple but never informed them of the
risks, the suit alleges.

During the circumcision, which took place at the couple's
house, Cohen reportedly "severed a portion of Noah's penis and a blood
vessel," the suit stated.

The infant was rushed to Indian River Memorial Hospital where
he received stitches and was transferred to Arnold Palmer Children's
Hospital in Orlando, Carter said.

Noah, now 20 months old, has undergone numerous medical
procedures including what is called a "revision" to the circumcision,
and skin grafts to "improve the cosmetic appearance of the penis." the
suit said.

"Visually, it will always be different," Carter said. "It's
hard to say what kind of emotional effect this will have on him. It's
tough enough going through puberty' without a disfigurement.

The suit contends the temple and Cohen should have highlighted
the risks of the procedure should have used due care during the
circumcision and should have made known Cohen’s background, training
and status with the temple.

Rabbi Jay R Davis of Temple Beth Shalom in Vero Beach said
there is no licensing agency for mohels.

"There is training, but no governing body," he said.

Typically, parents contact a temple to recommend a mohel. The
mohel supposedly has studied with a doctor to learn the procedure, for
which he is paid several hundred dollars.

"Temples have nothing to do with mohels," Davis said. Most
mohels also carry no insurance, he said.

Neither Davis nor Temple Beth Shalom are involved in the
lawsuit.

The couple's suit seeks money for the pain, suffering and
mental anguish of Noah and his parents. The suit also seeks money to
cover current and future medical bills. Carter said the bills now total
several thousand dollars.

Noah's parents declined to comment on the suit.

"These people are reluctant plaintiffs," Carter said. Cohen
agreed to pay for the medical bills, which would have concluded the
matter, but he never followed through, he added.